Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says the proposal to construct a second harbour crossing near the existing bridge contradicts his city vision. He believes the council must be involved in any final decision.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said yesterday the Government intends to announce its preferred route and method for the proposed crossing next month after feasibility studies and geotechnical investigations.
Brown has advocated for the crossing to be built over Meola Reef, a partially submerged rocky lava flow extending into Waitematā Harbour, but Bishop said the option was “not currently on the table”.
On Ryan Bridge TODAY Brown said he didn’t believe a decision would be made by the end of June as the Government was required to work with the council on major planning decisions.
He cited the recently signed Auckland City Deal, the first such partnership between local and central Government requiring the two to coordinate on issues such as infrastructure, housing, transport and economic development.
“The Herald reported about biparty [sic], well, we’re one of the parties and this is my city. I understand bridges better than professors of bridges," he told Bridge.
“We’ve got a 30-year plan that we’re laying out what we’re doing.
“We’re not just going to plonk another bridge next door to the existing one. We’re going to look at sensible things which we can afford that make the city run better.”
As the city’s elected leader, Brown said he had influence over the new crossing’s location and argued the proposal was fundamentally flawed.
He said it “makes no sense at all” to build a second crossing adjacent to the existing bridge, arguing it would worsen bottlenecks on either side of the motorway.
Brown believed officials hadn’t factored in key urban planning elements, describing the current proposal as “a bridge of fools” and saying lessons needed to be learned from the City Rail Link project.
“We just want sensible, priced things we can afford that work for us here.
“Not to be statements to get reelected, just things that work sensibly.”
Discussions around the need for a second crossing have reignited after NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) released two June 2025 reports relating to the existing bridge’s state of wear.
Bishop said yesterday Auckland needed to advance plans for the additional crossing now that the 67-year-old bridge is “showing its age”.
He noted “a considerable amount of work” would then be needed around funding the crossing, and expressed his desire to reach an agreement with other political parties.
“We will want to take a bipartisan approach to it and act in the national interest, because what’s important is that the public have certainty around exactly what we’re doing for the future.”
Documents recently released by NZTA highlighted the need to relieve strain on the existing bridge, which has exceeded its original design load capacity and was now considered vulnerable by officials, with maintenance costs surpassing $25 million annually.
Bishop said the decision boiled down to a choice between a bridge and a tunnel, likely positioned near the existing crossing, and that the NZTA board would review all options next month before recommending one to Cabinet.
“We’ll be engaging with other parties around it as well,” Bishop told Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan.
Shadow Transport Minister Tangi Utikere told the Herald he and Labour’s Auckland spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni had met officials on a number of transport-related issues, but said questions about plans for the harbour bridge are still to be answered.
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